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The official blog of Laemmle Theatres

Sundance Documentary WEB JUNKIE at the Music Hall this Weekend

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WEB JUNKIE screenings are sponsored by Unplug  — limited number of free two-week passes given away at the Saturday-Monday evening screenings.  Also, we will do a Web Junkie Movie poster giveaway Sunday night. 

Dr. Elisha Goldstein will host a Q&A after Sunday night’s 7:30pm screening – psychologist, speaker and author whose work includes the bestselling books The Now Effect: How This Moment Can Change the Rest of Your Life and A Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Workbook, foreword by Jon Kabat-Zinn.  Dr. Goldstein will discuss ways to harness our relationship with technology (see his recent blog http://blogs.psychcentral.com/mindfulness/2014/09/the-horse-is-technology-but-the-rider-is-on-auto-pilot/

Bring Your Ticket Stub From WEB JUNKIE and Get A FREE Rental from Vidiots Foundation
302 Pico Blvd., Santa Monica, CA 90405

310-392-8508

www.vidiotsfoundation.org

Sundance documentary Web Junkie screens in LA ONE WEEK ONLY
Oct. 3-9  Laemmle Music Hall Theater   Watch the trailer:  http://webjunkiedoc.com/
“Electronic heroin” and “web addiction”: that’s how Chinese authorities refer to internet activity of more than six hours a day, not related to work or studying. WEB JUNKIE takes audiences inside a Beijing treatment center and follows three teenagers as they endure boot-camp style rehab over three months. 

Many of the boys were tricked, drugged or physically coerced by their desperate parents, and deny they overuse the internet — although one claims to have gamed for 300 hours straight, and we hear that some wear diapers, to prevent bathroom breaks that would lower gaming scores.  China was a world leader in classifying internet addiction as a clinical disorder, and there are over 400 intensive treatment centers for web & gaming addiction.

Is internet addiction real? Professor Rao, the center head, claims a 70% ‘cure rate.’ In following these teens, Web Junkie explores the loneliness, social disconnection, depression, and family pressure to achieve that drive these kids to use the ‘net more than 10 hours a day.  While the film takes place in China, it explores the universal 24/7 lure of the internet, technology, and our devices.
We’ll be posting updates on the boys through the theatrical run, Oct. 3-9.
New Yorker Article:
Daily Beast: The film China Doesn’t Want You to See: